Hunt is a Karelian bear dog trainer, who is participating in
a U.S. Park Service experiment to use dogs to keep bears away
from campers.

"Last year, the bears did about $300,000 in property damage
to vehicles and tents, and to ice chests -- they really go
for those ice chests," says the park's Kendell Thompson. The
quest for the tasty human foodstuffs leads makes bears
aggressive, forcing Yosemite rangers to kill about three of
the troublesome animals a year.

Hunt says her dogs teach the bears lessons that can save them
from that fate.

"(We try) to teach the bears that they can live all around a
campground like Tuolumne (Meadows), but they can't be in it.
We don't want to have to relocate them; we don't want to have
to destroy them."

Karelian bear dogs originated in Russia, where they were used
as watchdogs and game hunters by peasants there and in
Finland. The dogs can hunt moose, deer and their specialty --
bears.

At Yosemite, the dog patrols also target campers, warning
them to keep their food in secure places where bears can't
reach it.

The chase is on

Shortly after dark, Hunt's dogs pick up the scent of a bear
that's been hanging around the Tuolumne campsite.

Hunt says the dogs have taught four other bears to avoid the
area, and she thinks this one's starting to get the message.

"It's a bear we know. As soon as we got on her -- we were in
the middle of the campground -- she headed out."

Some campers complain that maybe the dogs are too effective.
They say they like to see bears at Yosemite.

"I was kind of disappointed to not see any bears," said one
camper. "(But) it's like a relief, for safety reasons."